Page 272 - Mystic Pathways through the Bible

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the replace. Whenever the woman saw the bird, she would beckon him, saying, “Come little child. Come take some delicious food by the re.”
On one occasion, the hawk decided to enter the old woman’s hut, thinking that it would be wonderful to live in a warm place with someone who would give him so much love. No sooner had he own through the window than the woman caught hold of him, tied a string around his neck, and clipped some of his feathers so he could not y. As she did so, she said, “I’m doing all this just for you because I love you. Stay here with me forever.” And so the hawk became a prisoner. From the woman’s point of view it was out of love, and the hawk became enticed. But the moment he did so, he lost his freedom of ight.
Love based on attachment runs the same course. When you love someone with attachment, your ego is always planning to tie that person down so that he or she may always stay as close to you as possible. When your love is conditioned by attachment, you have unwittingly created bondage, not only for the other person, but for yourself as well. When higher love develops, however, you realize the joy of inner freedom for yourself as well as for the other person. You no longer feel threatened by the possibility that the person may leave you. Your purpose then becomes one of helping the soul, rather than tying